Fracture
by suerum
Summary: Jason chooses Spinelli over Sonny and what follows.


Fracture

_Fracture_

_A/N: I have no rights or affiliations with the characters herein represented_

Chapter 1: The Choice

"What did you say?" Sonny Corinthos asked incredulously.

"Sonny," Jason Morgan tried to placate him, "You're tired, you're worried. It's not a good time to be making big decisions, especially ones you'll regret."

"Regret!!" Sonny roared back. "What do you know about regret? It's Kate lying in the hospital. This is MY call to make and it's your job to do what I tell you. I make the decisions and you carry them out-that's the way it is and always will be."

The two men stood facing each other at an impasse. Sonny was furious; frustrated and piqued, as he considered Jason's insubordination and lack of respect. Jason sighed; he was tired, fed up. He knew Sonny's bullying was an outer manifestation of his concern for Kate coupled with his anger at his impotence in not being able to shield her from violence. Echoes of Michael's shooting also reverberated throughout the room.

The silence stretched out between them, each was trying to think of a way to achieve détente, a truce, albeit temporary. That option evaporated with the bursting open of the office door. "Stone Cold!" Spinelli erupted into the room, "The Jackal bears tidings of great import!"

Sonny turned towards Spinelli with a snarl; he grabbed him and slammed him up against the wall. "I told you to stay out of this office unless specifically askedto come in. Is that such a difficult concept for a pathetic little freak like you to grasp…...?"

Spinelli's eyes were wide with shock as he struggled against Sonny's stranglehold on him. "Take your hands off him!" Jason forcibly pulled Sonny away from Spinelli, who fell to the floor in a heap.

The two were like bulls glaring at one another; Spinelli pulled himself up, desperate to reestablish peace. "Stone Cold, Mr. Corinthos Sir, the Jackal most humbly apologizes for so thoughtlessly interrupting a private meeting. He had information of a most critical nature; and had previously been used to the freedom of ingress and egress provided by the more halcyon days of Stone Cold's tenure as…" He trailed off nervously; neither man was listening to him.

Jason looked over at Spinelli. "You okay?" He asked; searching his face with concern.

"The Jackal is tip-top, dandy," he began again; trying earnestly to defuse the situation. "He harbors no ill will knowing the strain Mr. Corinthos Sir is under."

"Spinelli," Jason said to him quietly, gently even,  
"I need you to go home and wait for me there. I'll be there in a while; now go on."

"Stone Cold," the Jackal started, but one look at his mentor's face told him that Jason was unreachable. Sighing miserably, he turned and fumbled with the door, finally managing to exit out into the relative sanity of the coffee shop.

"Now that's done, let's get back to business," Sonny said trying to attain normalcy.

Jason hadn't shifted his position, "Sonny, I have been making excuses for you for months. You never liked Spinelli, just tolerated him for what he could do for you with his computer. But lately you seem to hate him. You treat him like something on the bottom of your shoe. I've seen you humiliate and insult him in front of me and done nothing. I heard what happened at Crimson when you slammed his head into the wall and I didn't say anything. Well, now I'm saying something. You EVER speak to him like that again, you EVER lay another finger on him and you will answer to me!"

Sonny looked at Jason in stunned disbelief. "You're threatening me?" Jason didn't say anything, he just continued to look at Sonny with narrowed eyes and grim lips. "For that, that…spastic kid??"

Jason stepped forward, "Did you hear a word I said? You will treat Spinelli with respect, whether he's here or not, or else…"

"Or else what, Jason? You'll do what?" Realization slowly dawned on Sonny as he stared at Jason, "You'd leave? You would choose him?"

"Yes." With that simple utterance, the established universe of mob boss and enforcer cosmically shifted. Things would never again be as they were.

"Why do you hate him so much, Sonny? What did he ever do to deserve your contempt?"

"Why?" Sonny spat, "Because he walked in here less than two years ago and now your loyalty is to him. He knows your life, your secrets, he has your admiration, respect and most of all your trust…" He stopped, pale with rage and loss. "He took you away from me and you don't even see it!"

Jason was shocked, "You blame him for what went wrong between us? That's not right, he didn't do anything; this is on us. You didn't like it when I started to grow out of your shadow, questioning your decisions and orders. You wanted me on call 24/7 and what I wanted or needed didn't matter. Still, I did what you asked and then Michael was shot…"

"Yes, Michael!" Sonny shouted, "My son is lying helpless in a hospital bed while that,…that _geek_ walks all over this town, sticking his nose in where it isn't wanted. He never shuts up. The only time he has ever clammed up was when I came here offering to help earlier this summer. He dared to defy me and said that I had no right, NO RIGHT, to know what was going on in the business. He doesn't deserve to be breathing on the same planet with my son!" Sonny stopped, he was red faced and out of breath.

Jason was appalled by the ferocity of Sonny's hate for Spinelli; he had never suspected it was this bad. "Sonny, you can't blame him for any of this. _You_ chose to take Michael to that warehouse without any guards. _You _wanted to sign the business over to me. I _never_ wanted it; but I took it over so you could get out of the life. I run it the way it needs to be run and that means without your input. Spinelli was just being loyal, defending my interests when I wasn't here."

"Without my input?" Sonny was furious. "I created this business from the ground up! It cost me family, friends, took my son…" He shook his head in disbelief, how could Jason say any of this! He looked up and in a low, rough, cracked voice said "I wish to God I had gotten rid of _that _freak in the beginning. If I had, he never would have moved in with you, and insinuated himself into your life and your head. Now," he flapped his hand in frustration, "now, it's too late!"

It was Jason's turn to tremble with rage. "Spinelli has never done anything to you, except try to help and put up with your intimidation and cruelty! As for me, you're right; if you had asked me to cut him loose at the beginning, I would have. It would have been a huge mistake but I wouldn't have known it. I would have done it, like so many things," here he stopped as if to ponder all the opportunities in his life lost to Sonny's demands and his own blind, unquestioning loyalty. Sighing, he finished "because you asked it of me."

"Now I know better," he continued. "Spinelli's the exact opposite of you. You only think of your needs and wants. He does almost nothing for himself and everything for others. People are like puppets to you, possessions to be strung up and controlled and then put on the shelf until the next time. Spinelli looks at someone and sees who they are now. He sees all their faults and fears and he doesn't judge. Instead, he sees the good and the hurt inside them. Then he does everything he can to help them achieve what they need; to become who they should be rather than who they are………" Jason trailed off; there was no point to saying anymore. Sonny wouldn't or couldn't understand something so profound that Jason himself hadn't realized it until just now. Sonny never thought about such things; Jason knew that well, because it used to be true of him.

Sonny had been standing impatiently listening to Jason, spouting new age drivel. He couldn't believe that the man saying all this to him was his once trusted confidante, ally and blood cold enforcer. "He's ruined you!" Sonny said, realization dawning on his face. "I taught you this business, showed you how to compartmentalize, how to do what needed to be done-no matter how hard, no matter the cost. Now, you're weak, you worry about an idiot boy more than your duty-your responsibility and loyalty to me, to me!!"

"You would choose Spinelli over me, over the business?" The last was a question, one last chance for Jason to deny it, for things to go back to how they should be.

Jason had regained control of his temper and said regretfully, "Sonny, it's not a choice I want to make but I will if you force me. Spinelli is my family, it's up to me to protect him from any threat or danger-even if that means shielding him from you."

"Your family!" Sonny said amazed, "I thought…." His voice hitched and then he said dully, "well, you'll do what you want." With that he turned away from Jason dismissively, "Leave, go home to that nerd-your family."

Jason tried once more, "Sonny, it doesn't have to be like this. If you could just treat him decently, for my sake………"

Sonny stood rigidly, his back to Jason. He was afraid to say anything more, petrified his last shreds of self control would vanish. He couldn't risk saying or doing something that would irretrievably damage his and Jason's relationship. Though truly how it could be any worse was a question that needed answering. His hands curled into fists and he was filled with inchoate rage at the insufferable little brat who had taken his best friend, his brother…

After a moment, Jason realized that Sonny wasn't going to respond. He sighed and said, "I can at least help you with finding Kate's shooter."

"Don't bother!" Sonny said harshly, I can handle it, the business and I will be fine without you and your protégé!"

He said the last word with such heat and viciousness that Jason became shocked and angry all over again. "Fine," he said coldly, clenching his teeth and bunching his muscles. "This," casting a glance around the office, "and everything that goes with it; it's all yours. I'm going..." He took a first hesitant step towards the door; then with determination he opened it and was gone.

Sonny, left alone in the office, let out the breath he had been holding with a hiss. He had been clenching his fists so tightly that there were bleeding half moon marks on both palms. Through a haze of unshed tears, he stared blindly at his hands. He muttered bereftly to himself, "Jason left, he's gone." Then with hatred, "It's all the fault of that goddamn little punk-Spinelli!!" Suddenly, he picked up a heavy glass paper weight and threw it with all his strength against the red brick wall. It shattered into a pile of glittering prismatic fragments.

Sinking down into his office chair, he rocked back and forth, back and forth… His heart and mind were filled with a soul wrenching mix of grief, loss, and ice cold rage. Overlaying it all was an unholy desire for vengeance against the person he held directly responsible for his current desolation.

_A/N: Reviews and perceptions are appreciated_


End file.
